Tougaloo College, a historically Black college in Tougaloo, Mississippi, and Brown University in Rhode Island have announced a $10 million gift from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and documentary film producer Patty Quillin. 

Split evenly between the institutions, the gift will bolster the Brown-Tougaloo partnership, which was established in 1964 to enrich both campuses through student, faculty, and administrative exchanges. At Tougaloo, the gift will help fund financial aid for Tougaloo students working toward careers in medicine, public health, the sciences, education, business, and other fields and aspiring to make a positive impact on their communities after graduation by providing annual scholarship funding that directly supports high-achieving students with high financial need. At Brown, the university will establish the Brown-Tougaloo Partnership Scholarship Fund to provide annual support for Tougaloo students who come to Brown as part of the partnership, whether to pursue a graduate or medical degree or an academic exchange program. 

“Brown and Tougaloo share a deeply held commitment to preparing graduates to make a positive impact in their communities,” said Brown president Christina H. Paxson. “Our shared ideals serve as an unbreakable foundation for a 58-year-old partnership that has yielded important insights for students and scholars, infused both campuses with new perspectives, and provided life-changing experiences for Tougaloo and Brown students. This generous gift from Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin ensures that this truly one-of-a-kind partnership will continue to expand for many decades to come.”

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/tupungato)